(Alliance News) -Â National Express Group PLC on Thursday reported a sharp fall in revenue for 2020 and a swing to loss as the pandemic and subsequent travel restrictions emptied public transport.
Revenue for 2020 slumped 29% to GBP1.96 billion, while the company swung to a pretax loss of GBP444.7 million from a profit of GBP187.0 million in 2019.
The public transport operator said it had a "very strong" performance pre-pandemic, with revenue up 17% in the first two months of 2020. However, travel restrictions imposed in the wake of the coronavirus crisis hit demand for public transport and, as such, National Express's results for the year "have been materially depressed".
Looking out, National Express said uncertainty over the virus makes it difficult to forecast its financial performance.
"In our base case we anticipate the macro situation to be similar in the first half of 2021 to the second half of 2020, with varying levels of lockdowns and travel restrictions remaining in place. Accordingly we anticipate performance in the first half of 2021 to be similar to that achieved in the second half of 2020," the company said.
National Express expects that the rollout of vaccines will reduce infection rates by the summer, with a lifting of travel restrictions allowing a "steady recovery" in revenue in the second half. By December this year, revenue is expected to recover to levels similar to December 2019.
"Under this scenario we anticipate robust positive free cash flow in 2021 as Ebitda improves through the year and the capital expenditure reduction actions taken in 2020 take effect on the maintenance capital outflows," said National Express.
The company said it will not pay a dividend for 2020, and will reinstate the payout when "economic conditions permit".
Shares in National Express were down 3.6% at 302.52 pence in London on Thursday.
By Lucy Heming;Â lucyheming@alliancenews.com
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